How You Remind Me
by Kira Douji
Summary: Another "how Legato came to Knives etc..." story. Done to Nickelback's "How You Remind Me". Originally done for a ML, now free for viewing. R&R please.


Nickleback

How you remind me

~~Never made it as a wise man

I couldn't cut it as a poor man stealing~~

            He was running as fast as his legs could carry him, hands clamped tightly to his skull: trying desperately to fend off the noises. Shouts, angry and harsh, sobs, loud and painful, the sound of a gunshot reverberating over and over and over… He tripped and fell into the street, hands flaying to catch himself. The feel of stone and rough sand scraping his hands and knees slid across his senses, but didn't bother him. Stumbling to his feet, he continued racing out of the town. The farther away from them that he got, the quieter his mind became.  

Those stupid, stupid… idiots! All they ever did was torture him with their moronic feelings that made no sense at all! He finally got them, though, that one boy was still screaming in terror –screaming in his mind--. Those life-sucking pieces of shits!

They'd pay they'd all pay… He heard the stories; he knew they weren't supposed to be there anyway. Out of breath, the young boy fell into the shade of a desert boulder, and took out the water canister he'd managed to lift from the kitchen. Wiping his brow, he took a sip, and concentrated on the sand: making the noise dim to a hum for now. 

~~Tired of living like a blind man

I'm sick of sight without a sense of feeling~~

            The twin suns beat down on his shoulders as he wandered aimlessly through the desert. He had no real direction, nothing but away from people. Every time he went in a direction that started to get louder, he'd turn around and walk in the other direction: effectively keeping him from any towns. Unfortunately, that meant no place to refill his water, or get something to eat. He was rather hungry… but glancing at the barren land around him made his thoughts settle down. 

            Heat gathered on the back of his neck under his thick blue hair that he had yet to cut. It made more sweat pour down the back of his neck, and drip from his face. His skin felt burnt, but he didn't mind: it all melded seamlessly together. Gradually the horizon blurred, and the ground could no longer be deciphered from the sky. He soon felt himself falling into a state of numbness, which he had no will to crawl out of.

~~And this is how you remind me

     This is how you remind me

    Of what I really am

     This is how you remind me

    Of what I really am~~

            _Just being with you, that's enough for me…_

_            Just die you son of a bitch!_

_            Stay calm, it's alright, it's not that high..._

_            One, two, three, four, five… Here I come!_

            He snapped out of the delightful morning haze, as soon as his mind noticed the new voices, faint, but growing stronger. Shaking his head, he turned to off in the other direction: throat parched from days of travel, arms and legs weary, and his skin baked and cracked under the harsh glare of the suns. Suddenly, he felt a sense of calm, of nothing, a sadness, an anger: both floating lightly as if to taunt him, yet defined enough not to be left alone. 

            Walking towards this new feeling, the blossoming psychic felt a presence grew around his mind. A feeling so intense he felt like he would drown in it. It was wonderful, blocking out all the noise, so all he could hear was his thoughts, and those other feelings. It drew him along like a dog on a leash, and he could only follow its trail.

~~It's not like you to say sorry

    I was waiting on a different story

    This time I'm mistaken

    for handing you a heart worth breaking~~

            "What do you think you're doing in here, boy?" A man sneered off to his left.

            Thoughts tried to crash through the heavenly wall around his mind, dying against its hold over him. "Looking."

            "Well look somewhere else, kid, this is no place for a child." Came the gruff response, as the man in white grabbed his hand: seeking to lead him away.

            "I was told to come here." The boy protested, pulling his arm back and moving to step by the human.

            "Look, you can't… you don't want to go any farther." The engineer seemed agonized, reaching out to take his hand again. "Especially now, please, kid listen to me."

            He laughed, Kid? Kid? He knew more than this 'adult', more about pain, about life, and the intertwining of both. "Leave me alone."

            "Look, I don't know who sent you, or why you're here, but you're leaving." Again, taking a firm grip on his wrist, the human sought to lead him bodily from the chamber.

           _ I'll show you, I'll teach you something, "Mr. Engineer"_. He moved easily away from the broken hand as the other man stared wide-eyed in fear and pain. _You think that I don't know anything?_ He chuckled, as he watched the human buckle under an unseen weight. _This is something I have learned: The pain of living._

~~And I've been wrong, I've been down,

     to the bottom of every bottle

     It's the words in my head

     scream "are we having fun yet?"~~

            The last door, the sensation was so strong, he could barely lift his hands to the latch, but he had to. He was in the feeling so deep; he couldn't breath, couldn't think, and couldn't move unless he concentrated hard on his actions. What a wonderful feeling, he'd never felt anything like this, drowning, but light, and silent… everything was so quiet. Out of sheer stubbornness the handle turned in his hands, and the door opened. 

            A light seeped out of the doorway, blinding in its brilliance. Covering his eyes, he stumbled inside, and blinked away the spots in his vision: seeing now only a soft glow. Looking up, he spotted a vision that forever scored itself deep in his mind. Absently, he felt his bruised knees hit the cool, metal floor, as he stared up at the apparition in front of him. Silhouetted in it's own light, the source of his haze, of his drowning: the one thing that had lead him from the beginning. It looked like a man, but it hummed with a life, a power, he'd never felt from a human. A spirit, and angel…  a god.

~~Yeah, yeah, yeah, no, no

     yeah, yeah, yeah, no, no~~

_            Legato, I've been waiting._

            That name, he blinked; he hadn't heard it in so long. Before it seemed harsh, condemning as it spilt from the lips of his peers: but now it felt perfect as the voice that flowed through his consciousness. Suddenly, he felt foolish, and guilty: realizing how long he'd been in the desert. _I'm sorry…_ He answered weakly, eyes still born on the figure above him. 

~~It's not like you didn't know that

     I said I love you and I swear I still do

    And it must have been so bad

    Cause living with me must have damn near killed you~~

            The apparition laughed: a sliver of emotion shivering through his mind, and he suddenly felt like a speck in the whirlpool that was pulling him towards this perfect being before him. _You know where you should be._

           _ Here._ He answered simply, ripping his eyes from the being above him. 

         _   Do you know who I am?_

~~And this is how, you remind me

    Of what I really am

    This is how, you remind me

    Of what I really am~~

            Suddenly, it clicked: the power, the feeling, and the pull towards him, it all made sense. _Of course, you are my master._

            The presence slid over his body, awakening it again with another amused chuckle. _And why is that?_

            In his 13 years of existence, Legato had never felt something, so real, so borrowed touch his mind. He closed his eyes and accepted it all, until accepting more become painful, and still he took all the feeling his master would give him. _The weaker have always served the stronger: I'm only a human, and can only serve you, because one cannot go any higher than that._

~~It's not like you to say sorry

    I was waiting on a different story

    This time I'm mistaken

    for handing you a heart worth breaking~~

            Legato closed his eyes, laying his head back against the table he was on, as he felt the metal tear through his left shoulder. He felt the engineers wince and cringe, heard their unbelieving thoughts that he would go through with this without anesthetic. He smirked slightly, this pain couldn't hurt him: he knew real pain, the kind that hurt your thoughts, and tore down into you. Anything physical was merely another emotion, none of which could measure up to what He had shown him.  

            Unconsciously, he rolled his head towards the area his arm used to be in, smelling his own blood flow from the wound even as the doctors and engineers tried to stop it. Some of the men moved away from the table, setting down their tools, and leaving the room entirely as the replacement was laid next to him. Few others could be heard dry retching in the corner while the rest set to work with needle and thread. He felt it again, the presence that seeped into his mind, and through his body.

            The searing image of light, flesh and power burned behind his eyes. Golden orbs were revealed to the blindingly bright lights of the room, and if they were seeing the room would, have closed again soon after. _Master…_ He whispered mentally,

though it held so much reverence he might as well have said "God." 

           _ See how gracious your master can be?_ Came the satin voice, as He continued to make the arm accept this foreign body. I let you touch perfection.

            _Thank you, my master._ Legato answered obediently.

~~And I've been wrong, I've been down,

     to the bottom of every bottle

     it's the words in my head

     scream "are we having fun yet?"~~

            He looked almost lazily at the being across the sands from him. Vash the Stampede: the cause for both the sadness and anger in His perfect self. This twin, this brother thought his hands were clean, yet Legato could see more blood on those angelic

hands, than he did on his own. For some reason he seemed to think that Legato had been twisted, brainwashed into thinking as he did: it was no trouble reading the feelings and errant thoughts that poured from the mind so similar yet so different from Him. Shaking his head, the psychic turned away to some nameless tune from a saxophone. He'd made many mistakes in his life, but the one decision he made that he knew for a fact wasn't made to break, wasn't made with his mind tied, eyes closed, and hearing lost: was serving Him.

~~Yeah, yeah, yeah, no, no

     yeah, yeah, yeah, no, no

     yeah, yeah, yeah, no, no

     yeah, yeah, yeah, no, no~~

          _  Now it's time I taught you life's lesson, Vash the Stampede._ He thought, coaxing the barrel of the gun closer to his head._ My work will finally end: return to Him. I know you will; I saw it, just give in to the order…_ A bullet clipped under the kneecap of the being so like his master, yet unable to accept this fact. To be destroyed by one of Them, one of His kind: how gracious He had been to allow it.

~~Never made it as a wise man

     I couldn't cut it as a poor man stealing~~

            His parents had been angry; his sister had been terrified. The doctors were afraid of the crazy child who screamed, and made things move without touching them. Children had run to the teacher crying. His peers had dwindled until there was none left. He had crossed the desert without intention or direction. Then the young boy had stumbled onto the greatest find of his life. He had served, and endured, destroyed and gathered together, all for Him.

~~And this is how you remind me

     This is how you remind me

     This is how you remind me

     Of what I really am

     This is how you remind me

     Of what I really am~~

            Closing his eyes, Legato Bluesummers, child of humanity, servant of Those Who Live Outside Of Time, murderer of thousands, powerful psychic, and forever the bane of an outlaw named Vash the Stampede, smiled a soft, welcoming smile. _Finally, I will leave._

~~It's not like you to say sorry

     I was waiting on a different story

     This time I'm mistaken

     for handing you a heart worth breaking

     and I've been wrong, I've been down,

     to the bottom of every bottle

     it's the words in my head

     scream "are we having fun yet?"

     yeah yeah~~

            _Goodbye, my master._

~~Are we having fun yet?~~

            The trigger was pulled back.

~~Are we having fun yet?~~

            The sound of a shot rang out over GunSmoke.

~Are we having fun yet?~~

            And the image of a child finding his God was forever imbedded in the sand.

***Owari***


End file.
